The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:25)
The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:25)
If I desire to flourish in soul, I must not hoard up my stores but must distribute to the poor. The way of Getting rather than Giving is the Way of the corrupted world. We must do our best to avoid living to Get and instead live to work diligently, save for difficult times that may come and go, but always do what we can to be kindly and generous.
Spurgeon: “But there is a mental and spiritual prosperity which I would greatly covet, and this comes as the result of generous thoughts toward my God, His church, and my fellow ladies and gentlemen.
“Let me be bountiful and liberal, in God’s wisdom, for so shall I be like my Lord. He gave Himself for me; shall I withhold from Him anything?”
Commentary:
Our purpose in our lives is to learn to love, to help others, and enjoy doing it!
God tells us in Proverbs 11:24: NLT Give freely and become wealthier; be stingy and lose everything.
In the New International Version, we read; One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
Faith’s way of gaining is giving. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “I must try this again many times with faith believing it will reward me properly.” He continued his sermon….
I may expect that as much of prosperity as will be good for me will come to me as a gracious reward for my generous course of action.
Of course, I may not be sure of growing rich. I shall be prosperous but not so prosperous that I am tempted to worship Mamon and what money can buy.
Becoming too prosperous may give me to sinful ways and then to be consumed by Satan and his minions who tempt me with worldliness, which is indeed far from God and is evil.
May it be far from you and me.
If we are too wealthy, we may become degenerate in our growing addiction to materialism, always seeking more money and what comfort it buys. By becoming too successful we lose the kindly heart we had.
If I am prosperous enough to be comfortable, I can be satisfied. If the Lord grants me a wise and sound mind and comfort, that should be enough so that I may say I am adapted to and comfortable in all conditions. Thus, I may be thoroughly content.
It is this way for me personally and several American and English friends I know here in Southeast Asia. We left England and America because we understood the future and perhaps felt or heard God telling us, “I want you to move there as soon as you retire.”
Some were married to Asian women. Some came here seeking a vacation and a loving partner. My experience has been that introductions in Singles Connection services is sometimes disappointing and even dangerous. It is better to settle in a nice community, and over time they find me or I say hello to them in places where we buy groceries and going around town doing business. In essence, I gave the issue to God. He paired me with the right one.
